Over the past week or so, I have had a flare up of an underlying medical condition which has stopped my running. I am so frustrated.

Since I embarked on my c25k journey back in March, I have faithfully ran and managed the heady heights of a few HMs. My condition (ulcerative colitis) leaves me with very little energy and the inability to move more than about 20 yards from a toilet (on the plus side, I can now cover that 20 yards quicker than before )

Question I guess I have for you guys is - how quickly does your fitness level drop?

The doc has prescribed me a course of steriods so I hope to be back soon. Have to avoid those pesky drugs tests after runs tho'

8 Replies

I'm so sorry you are grounded and you have to manage this condition. It sounds nasty.

Hats off to you for completing the programme and for the HM's (bl**dy hell that's impressive!).

How long do you think you might not be able to run? Can you do other exercise to keep your fitness up? You could perhaps do some at home from DVD's so you are near a loo!

I was off running for 6 weeks in the summer and while I did other exercise I did find going back to running hard ( other people might not). However it was fabulous just running again even though I was only able to do about 10 minutes the first few times! It took me about 7 weeks to get back to 5K but I did it very carefully and slowly so you might be quicker than that.

If you've been running HM's then your level of fitness is excellent and I'm sure you'll whizz through the weeks again. Good luck!

Hi runner56 so sorry you are grounded. I have Crohns so know how bad it can get. I have been surprised that despite not running for a week I don't think my fitness dropped that much. My meds keep me stable (touch wood). Before I started running I did the 5:2 diet which I think rested my insides and I have done the odd day of fasting since. I found steroids do give you a good feeling but don't think I ever experienced a massive energy boost. Really impressive to have done half marathons. Hope the steroids kick in and you're on the mend soon.

Thanks GF. I might try some fasting days to see if it helps the condition. I think my running certainly eased the cramps so I hope to be back quickly. I shall touch some wood on your behalf. Heres to symptom free running.

I am doffing my cap in admiration that you have done HM's despite such a debilitating condition. You must be very fit so I wouldn't worry too much about losing your fitness levels . Im no expert but judging by other peoples experience on here , I think you should get it back quite quickly. Have you got any exercise DVDS at home you could do just to keep you ticking over ?

Thanks PP. I can already feel the benefit of the steroids so hopefully I wont be out of order for much longer. With a bit of luck and some careful planning, I might try and pencil in a short run midweek.

On the plus side, the steroids give me a very husky voice which works wonders in the chat line game

Unless someone has overtrained, then a fit body is going to cope better with illness, so you've already done yourself a monster favour.

I read something interesting the other day about someone who had an Achilles tendon injury and couldn't run for ages. He did yoga instead and found that when he got back to running he was *fitter* Different scenario to you as you are ill rather than injured and those innard-y things are tremendously draining... but I've often recorded my best times after a break.